Published July 17, 2008 on May 13, 2018

Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng of Thailand Wins the Malaysian Amateur Open

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After carding the lowest round of 8-under-par 64 on Saturday’s third and simultaneously created a course record at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club, Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng of Thailand clinched the 116^thMalaysian Amateur Open title on Sunday. His final-round 1-over-par 73 secured him the victory for a total 16-under-par 272 at the par-72, 6,373-metre Sultan-Alam course at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club.

Witchayanon Chothirunrungruengwho was part of the Thailand’s winning team at the 2017 Nomura Cup carded 3 birdies; 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey en route to victory. Witchayanon was the favourite to win the championship after carding an 8-under-par 64 on Saturday with a comfortable 8-stroke lead.

“My game feels really good right now,” he said. “I’m just going to try and keep it up and get ready for the Asian Games in August.”

“I hope I can carry the momentum up to Asian Games in Jakarta,”  Witchayanonexplained. “To be able to play in the SEA Games, Nomura Cup and Asian Games would be awesome.”

Thailand repeated its brilliant performance in 115^thMalaysian Amateur Open in Sabah by claiming first, second and third place in this year’s edition.  Witchayanon’s teammate, Sadom Kaewkanja finished in second place after carding 2-under-par 70 today for 11-under-par 277 tournament total. His 2 bogeys neutralized the 2 birdies he scored on each nine.

“It was a tough day,” Sadomsaid. “I was able to reduce the deficit to 1 stroke only with Witchayanon.”

2017 SEA Games gold medalist, Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand was content to claim third place after carding a 1-under-par 71 for 8-under-par 280 total. Chuan Tai-Lin of Chinese Taipei finished at fourth place on countback who carded 73, 70, 70, 71 for a 4-under-par 284 total.

Victor Ng Yu Kai of Melaka who finished 1-over-par 289 was Malaysian best finisher who carded 70, 72, 76, 71.

The tournament, which began in 1894 at the Penang Golf Club is one of the oldest amateur events in the world. That consistency has helped create a tournament steeped in tradition and has helped produced many champions who have graduated to paid rank like Robert Allenby, Stephen Leaney, Mardan Mamat, Thongchai Jaidee, Mike Campbell and Gavin Kyle Green to name a few.

The 126-player field features players from Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Cambodia,  Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Netherland, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, and Malaysia. In all, 18 foreign countries were represented.

Final Leading Results

Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng(THA)                             70, 65, 64, 73 – 272

Sadom Kaewkanja (THA)                                                      69, 69, 69, 70 – 277

Kosuke Hamamoto (THA)                                                     72, 72, 65, 71 – 280

Chuan Tai-Lin (TWN)                                                            73, 70, 70, 71 – 284 (OCB)

Kshitij Naveed Kaul (IND)                                                    68, 66, 75, 75 – 284

Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (THA)                                          68, 73, 71, 73 – 285

Aadil Bedi (IND)                                                                    73, 71, 73, 71 – 288

Victor Ng (MAS)                                                                    70, 72, 76, 71 – 289

Narajie Emerald Ramadhanputra (INA)                           75, 73, 73, 69 – 290 (OCB)

Low Wee Jin (SIN)                                                                 70, 75, 73, 72 – 290